Vivid
by OhBuddy66
Summary: Kensi is injured, but Hetty watches over her and encourages her to get back to her team.


**Vivid**

Kensi gasped as the feeling of weightlessness she had been experiencing is replaced by a bone crunching impact. The last she thing remembers is tumbling and pain, then her world goes dark...

* * *

Everything is fuzzy. Bits and pieces flash in and out of her mind. The harder she tried to focus, the less clear her visions become until they are lost completely. She feels herself huff in frustration and immediately loses consciousness from the pain that bolts through her. It is hours later before she comes to again. Or so she thinks.

She realizes she is not very comfortable. A dull ache throughout her whole body has her wanting to find a better position in bed, but try as she might, she can't move. Odd, she thinks, she doesn't remember going to bed. She's confused and angry because she can't remember anything. Very briefly Kensi becomes aware someone is talking. A woman's voice, and near. Speaking softly but confidently, and sounding as if they had been speaking to her, but the words escape her - something about a team and missions - things that she didn't comprehend. Beeping, like you'd hear in a hospital. The sound of paper, like the pages of a magazine or newspaper being turned. Hushed chatter from far off, as if in another room or down a hallway. Nothing made any sense to her. As hard as she tried to put all the pieces together, they would slowly be replaced by a deep, dark silence.

The tiny woman sitting at Kensi's bedside shook her head, disappointed that the brunette had failed to fully regain consciousness. Gently she closed the file she had been reading from and slid it back inside her bag. As she rose, the door to the room swept open. Hetty smiled, knowing the footsteps that she'd heard approaching were those of Miss Blye's injured fiance.

"Thank you for sitting with her, Hetty. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Hetty smiles, "Indeed you will, it's the least I could do. Have a good night."

* * *

Kensi's mind raced. She saw faces. Heard voices. All so very familiar, but then again - not. She had to get back to her team. Her partner. It was all so clear one second, and then it wasn't. An overwhelming desire filled her, she needed to check on her team. More importantly, she had to find her partner. She couldn't remember why she felt so strongly about her partner - hell, she couldn't even remember his name. And what team were they a part of? A steady voice filled her mind, fueling this feeling. The thought of solving mysteries suddenly seemed very important to Kensi. It only made her more frustrated as she fought to remember the people she kept seeing in her mind.

Cherished thoughts of her father were the first real memories that came back. The good times when she was younger. Learning everything her father showed her. She was like a sponge, soaking up all the knowledge he would share. She also remembered moving often, and the times when it was just her mother and her. _Her mother_... More visions flooded her mind. Suddenly her breath caught, this new memory hitting her like a ton of bricks. Her dad was gone. _Dead_.

* * *

Hetty continued to sit at the unconscious brunette's bedside as she promised, day after day as time allowed. She also continued to read to Kensi. File after file, report after report. It seemed to Hetty that Kensi would be regaining consciousness soon. She smiled as Kensi seemed to respond more and more to her reading. It wouldn't be long now, she thought, that Kensi would recover from her injuries and awaken.

Once again, as she had done for the last several weeks, she stood and bid the worried man a good night as he entered Kensi's room.

"How is she today, Hetty?"

"Oh, I think she'll be back with us any time now. Get your rest and I'll see you in the morning." Hetty nodded as she stepped out into the hallway, letting the door close gently behind her. She stood for a moment, going over the thoughts in her head. She breathed in deeply then exhaled, slowly walking away, a slight smile on her lips.

* * *

Two nights later Kensi sat upright in her bed, a gasp rushing from her lips and her eyes wide as she looked around the room.

"Kensi? How do you feel? I was so scared I was going to lose you."

Kensi's eyes met those of her fiance. Ignoring the pain from her sudden movement she exclaimed, "Jack!? What are you doing here? Where's...where is...my team?"

"Your team? Kensi, are you okay? Let me get the doctor." Jack stepped to the door and called to a nurse down the hall.

It took some convincing, but Jack was finally able to get Kensi to realize there was no team. It was just them. She had no recollection of their accident. They had been in the desert riding their dirt bikes when she'd hit a jump wrong, landing hard and crashing. Jack was close behind and ended up dumping his bike to avoid hitting her. He had some bumps and bruises, while Kensi had suffered some pretty severely bruised ribs and a nasty head wound. She was in a coma for nearly a month. She was stunned when she'd learned how long she'd been out.

They'd returned home and went on with their lives. It was not long after that Jack was deployed. When he finally returned he was not the same man. Kensi did all she could to help him, but it wasn't enough. She ended up alone. But that was all about to change. She worked hard, and eventually that hard work and determination paid off...

* * *

Hetty sipped her tea, anxious for the day. She glanced up when she heard footsteps. A knowing smile spread across her face. She sat her tea cup down gently.

"Miss Blye, welcome to the NCIS Office of Special Projects. My name is Henrietta Lange. Call me Hetty. Let's introduce you to the team, shall we? Right this way, dear."

_**The End**_

_**A/N: This is an idea that's been sitting in my folder for years now. I dabbled with it off and on. And then...it sat. I would go back to it, add a few lines. Edit others. Delete some. After the end of season 9 I felt compelled to start again, using the rocket striking the team's SUV as a launching point - yet another edit. Then it sat again. And then some more. Many things kept me from continuing to write. A select few of you know that I've dealt with some real life events that have kept me away from fan-fiction. I knew I wanted to try to finish this and post it before the new season started. And here we are... It is completely different than the idea I had back then, just a short one-shot now - but the premise is still intact based on that we learned Hetty knew Jack prior to Kensi working for NCIS - possibly when he and Kensi were engaged, that Hetty has a way of putting certain events into action, among other things - and hopefully it works for you.**_


End file.
